


Honesty

by ExpectedBehavior



Category: Do No Harm (TV)
Genre: Beating, Gen, I'm Sorry Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jamaica, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Finale, References to electroshock, Restraints, Torture, Whipping, Whump, no sexual activity, non-con elements but nothing happens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:42:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28423389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExpectedBehavior/pseuds/ExpectedBehavior
Summary: Ian Price wants the truth, and he’s going to get it out of Dr. Ruben Marcado by whatever means he can. Ruben isn’t going to enjoy it though...
Relationships: Ruben Marcado/Ian Price
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11





	Honesty

**Author's Note:**

> Like with all of my hyperfixations, once content runs out from one source (LMM on His Dark Materials), I have to find another source — and the 2013 show Do No Harm has done just that. This is a post-finale/AU type one-shot of what Ian might have done to poor Ruben once they landed in Jamaica, based on some canon episode activity. (Ruben lives! But his life sucks in the meantime...)

“Please please please, Ian, n-no, please no m-m-more!” He was babbling, he knew he was, but he couldn’t seem to stop it happening.

The cord struck his back, near his hips this time, and he arched as the hard rubberized plastic bit into his flesh again. A high-pitched cry forced its way from his throat, ragged and unhinged.

“Ian, p-please!” Ruben screamed. He felt like he had always been screaming. His cheeks were soaked from crying, and he couldn’t remember them ever being dry.

“ ‘Ian, puh-puh-please!’ ” The dark-haired man parroted back at him, but Ruben didn’t hear the low rustle of him winding up for another strike. Suspended by his wrists from an eyebolt in the ceiling, with his ankles loosely tethered to a corresponding bolt in the floor, Ruben swung in place.

After a few moments of heart-pounding uncertainty ( _What is he doing? When is the next blow coming? WHAT IS HE DOING??_ ), he heard Ian drop the electrical cord on the concrete floor with an exasperated sigh. Ruben let out an audible sob of relief, which he then choked on as he heard Ian’s footsteps approaching from behind. As his captor walked around him, he dragged his fingernails across Ruben’s once-smooth back — now criss-crossed with angry red welts from the improvised whip. The cut-off sob from moments ago fought past Ruben’s lips and echoed in the empty space.

Now standing in front of him, Ian smiled tightly. No doubt he was greatly enjoying the tableau. Ruben -- excitable, nervous, soft Ruben -- hanging like a slab of meat before a butcher. As if he was broadcasting his thoughts, Ian’s smile widened slightly, and Ruben hiccuped as he sucked in a ragged gasp of air.

Ian watched as Ruben struggled against the constant panic attack he’d been experiencing since they landed in Jamaica. When Ruben’s breathing was starting to gain a measure of regularity again, Ian slowly leaned in and whispered in his ear.

“You remember when we were in that basement room together, Ruben? Remember, the dialysis machine?” Ruben turned white as a sheet and began sputtering wordlessly.

“Shhhh shhh shh… None of that.” Ian’s finger was on Ruben’s lips; Ruben drew a shuddering breath, his eyes wide. “But I’m glad you remember. That’s good.” His finger left Ruben’s lips and trailed down Ruben’s neck, across the bare skin of his chest, and stopped just shy of his jeans. Ruben’s boxer-briefs peeked out from within the denim, and Ian ran his finger under the front of the band. Ruben closed his eyes and held his breath. _Oh Jesus... oh no... please don’t let him go there..._

Ruben felt Ian pop the elastic band against the skin of his belly, causing Ruben to bodily flinch. But he couldn’t feel Ian touching him any longer, so he opened his eyes to see Ian still staring at his waistband. Ruben swallowed thickly, and Ian looked up with a slightly-distant expression, as if he’d forgotten Ruben was conscious. It was confusing and unsettling, but it didn’t last long -- as if on cue, Ian replaced the blank look with that predatory grin of his.

“Let’s take a trip down memory lane, Rubes.” Ruben shuddered at the nickname. “To a time when our positions were switched.” _What is he even talking about?_ Ruben thought.

“Remember what happened after the dialysis machine? After your precious Jason knocked me out and came to rescue you like a princess in a fairy tale? He couldn’t leave well-enough alone, could he? He always wanted more from you — from me too. More more more!”

Ruben was afraid to breathe as he watched Ian work himself up. _Where is this going..._

“He had to get rid of me, and he needed your help to do it. But the method was your idea, wasn’t it, Rubes? Electroshock.” Ruben’s heart felt like it stopped.

“Oh I remember your face vividly. I woke up, back in that dingy basement in that goddamn chair, with a gag in my mouth. And you. You knew it was me, not Jason. ‘Hello, Ian,’ you said, then you pressed that button to pump me full of more voltage than a Christmas tree -- and I saw you _grin_.” Ruben violently shook his head seemingly hard enough to rattle his brain, his lips moving but no sound coming out. _No, no, no no no…_

Ian hadn’t stopped his little speech, though. “I mean, I don’t blame you. Just a few days earlier, I nearly beat your head in with a baseball bat.” He laughed. “Just hours before, I had shoved a large set of needles into your arm, and trashed your lab. All of which I very much enjoyed, by the way. If I’d been in your shoes, I’d have been looking for a little retribution too. That’s what it was, right? Retribution?”

Ruben was hyperventilating now, he couldn’t even get his voice and mouth and brain to work together long enough to offer a token denial to the man. The panic was overwhelming. He felt like he was disassociating from his body and floating upwards. _Oh god, oh god oh god oh god oh god--_

He felt Ian roughly grab his chin and force him back into the moment. “Did you enjoy that, Rubes? Did you enjoy hurting me?”

Ruben found his voice. “N-n-no! I-- I was just doing what Jason told me to do, he told me-- he told me he needed it, you **both** n-needed it, Ian I didn’t have a choice, please bel--” And then Ian’s hand wasn’t on his chin any more, it was around his throat, cutting off both words and air.

“Don’t lie to me, Ruben... You know how I **hate** being lied to.” Ian’s voice was barely above a growl and was quickly being drowned out by the rushing sound filling Ruben’s ears.

 _Just let him do it,_ a small voice said in the back of his mind. _Let him choke you out. I know it hurts now, but soon nothing will hurt any more. Let him do it. Let him kill you, Ruben. It’ll all be better after that._

_**Yeah, that’s great and all, Mr. Nihilism, but you’re acting like I even have a choice here.** _

His vision was blurring at the edges, and he uselessly kicked his bare feet against air. The darkness was closing in -- and he gasped as Ian abruptly let go and air came rushing back into his lungs. He coughed and wheezed, scratchy painful breaths filling his throat and expanding his chest (as best they could while he remained suspended, that is). He was still coughing when he felt Ian sternly grab his chin again.

“So, Rubes, do you want to change your answer?”

Fresh tears ran new rivulets down his already sticky face, squeezing out from behind swollen eyelids. Ruben hesitated, just a moment, before giving Ian the smallest of nods.

“...Y-yes. I enjoyed it,” he whispered, briefly meeting Ian’s eyes.

Ian gripped his chin a moment longer then let go. Ruben didn’t even have time to do more than droop slightly before Ian slapped him across the face full-force with an open palm, bodily swinging him in his restraints. His head spinning, Ruben tasted blood where the inside of his cheek hit his teeth. Ian smiled and walked past Ruben again, returning to his spot behind the chemist.

“It’s good we can be honest with each other, Rubes. Really good.” Ian said, cheerfully. He sounded further away than usual, somehow.

 _Please… no more…_ Ruben tiredly pleaded, but he couldn’t even muster the strength or bravery to vocalize it this time.

“That’s why I want to be perfectly honest with you now.” Ruben jumped, as much as he could in his position, because Ian’s voice was suddenly much closer -- basically right behind him. Ruben also heard the electrical whine of an ECT machine starting up.

“I’m _honestly_ going to enjoy returning the favor...”


End file.
